Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes. The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae, respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.
The black-billed cuckoo is a New World species in the Cuculidae (cuckoo) family. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, kokkuzo, means to call like a common cuckoo, and erythropthalmus is from eruthros, "red" and ophthalmos, "eye".
Malkohas are large birds in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. The group name is derived from the Sinhala word for the red-faced malkoha; mal-koha meaning flower-cuckoo. These are all tropical species.
The Crotophaginae are a small subfamily, within the cuckoo family Cuculidae, of four gregarious bird species occurring in the Americas. They were previously classified as a family Crotophagidae.
Cacomantis is a genus of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. The genus name is derived from the Greek kakos meaning evil or ill-boding and mantis for prophet and is derived from their association with "rains" being supposed to be predicted as also ill fortune and bad weather. Most of them have a round nostril and are mainly in brown and gray colours. The tails are graduated and barred. The bars are transverse in sonneratii and oblique in all others.
The white-crowned cuckoo or white-crowned koel is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was originally described by Salomon Müller as Cuculus leucolophus. It was later placed in the monotypic genus Caliechthrus, but most taxonomists place it the genus Cacomantis because it has a similar song to other cuckoos in this genus and it is genetically similar to the pallid cuckoo. It is found in New Guinea and neighbouring Salawati Island.
Carpococcyx is a genus of large terrestrial cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. They are restricted to humid forested regions in Southeast Asia. Despite their similarities, they are not closely related to the South American ground cuckoos of the genus Neomorphus.
The coral-billed ground cuckoo, also known as Renauld's ground cuckoo, is a large terrestrial species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. Its English name refers to its coral-red bill, which separates it from the two other members of the genus Carpococcyx.
Cercococcyx is a genus of cuckoos in the family Cuculidae, known as the long-tailed cuckoos.
The barred long-tailed cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in the Albertine Rift montane forests and disjunctly throughout East Africa.
The olive long-tailed cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found throughout the African tropical rainforest.
The white-eared bronze cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in New Guinea.
The black cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. The species is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa. There are two subspecies. This cuckoo has a very wide range and is quite common so it is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Sulawesi cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is often known as the Sulawesi hawk-cuckoo but appears not to be related to the other hawk-cuckoos. It is endemic to Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The Madagascar cuckoo, also known as the Madagascar lesser cuckoo, is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Though it breeds only in Madagascar, it spends the non-breeding season in a number of countries in the African Great Lakes region and the Indian Ocean islands: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
The red-chested cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is a medium-sized bird found in Africa, south of the Sahara. In Afrikaans, it is known as "Piet-my-vrou", after its call.
The pheasant cuckoo is a species of neotropical cuckoo in the subfamily Neomorphinae of the family Cuculidae. It is native to Central and South America where it occurs in lowland tropical forest.
The dwarf koel is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus Microdynamis. It is found in New Guinea, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Its closest relatives are the Eudynamys.
The long-billed cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Found in the Aru Islands and New Guinea, its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Hierococcyx or hawk-cuckoos is a genus of birds in the family Cuculidae. They are distributed in South, Southeast, and East Asia. The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoos.
